"And we come together today to offer our nation's apology. To say to you, the Forgotten Australians, and those who were sent to our shores as children without their consent, that we are sorry.

"Sorry that as children you were taken from your families and placed in institutions where so often you were abused. Sorry for the physical suffering, the emotional starvation and the cold absence of love, of tenderness, of care."

Painful memories

Wilma Robb was removed from her family in Griffith New South Wales at the age of five. Her mother was ill; her father was violent.

She spent 12 years in and out of two of the nation's most notorious homes - Parramatta Girls Home and Hay Girls Institution.

"In Parramatta I was put on a psychotic drug, which was Largactil, so I was zombied out and I've never had a psychotic episode in my life," she said.

"And one day I spat it out and got caught, so I was taken downstairs to scrub the shower block.

"Two of the male officers, which was the deputy and the superintendent, came down and put my hands behind my back, smashed my teeth into the sink, broke my nose and my teeth.

"And I went through withdrawals - drug withdrawals - off the psychotic drug that they put me on. But that was really to suppress us."

Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull supported the motion, weeping as he described the appalling treatment suffered by many children.

His tears were also shared by Elizabeth Allen, who travelled from Castlemaine near Bendigo in Victoria to hear the apology.

Ms Allen lived in a Melbourne orphanage in Brighton from when she was eight until she was 14.

"Two of my brothers and one of my sisters were in another home in Cheltenham," she said wiping away tears.

"And my older brother, older sister, myself and another younger brother were in the Melbourne orphanage. It was sad."

Ms Allen said she felt the apology was sincere and that it made a difference.

"I just cried and cried and cried. It was really from the heart, I felt," she said.

"And it made us feel that yes, they cared. It wasn't just a straight out - 'oh, sorry'.

"Even Mr Malcolm Turnbull - both of them - had so much sympathy, and it made us feel that somebody cared."

Compensation

Around 500,000 children, including thousands of child migrants, grew up in government-run institutions and foster care and many had been lobbying for for an apology from the Federal Government since it was recommended by a Senate committee in 2004.

It has taken three Senate inquiries to get to this point. All recommended a formal apology. All were unanimous.

Mr Rudd paid tribute to former Democrats senator Andrew Murray, himself a child migrant, who like many others shed a tear.

"What it means for them is being believed when they weren't," Mr Murray said. "Having their story understood when it wasn't. Knowing they are part of many and not alone."

For many, the apology marks the end of a long battle for recognition. But others argue the need for compensation remains. The Commonwealth has ruled it out.

While the Government has ruled out paying compensation, Mr Rudd said those Forgotten Australians who had been in care will receive special care in old age.

The Government will also provide a national service to help people find their families.

The British High Commissioner to Australia, Baroness Valerie Amos, says the UK Government will also say sorry early next year for its role in sending children to Australia.